Media Matters: MSNBC is not the left's Fox News

[Enrique]

and it's a good thing, in their opinion and mine. Some may disagree.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201008120014

(...)

But more importantly, MSNBC tees off on Democrats, even during the channel's supposedly liberal, opinionated shows, in the way Fox News absolutely refused to do when Republicans under Bush ran Washington, D.C. (And still refuses to do today.)

For instance, I've recently made a handful of appearances on The Ed Show, and it seems like every time I'm getting mic'd up for the show, the segment before mine is taking shots at Democrats. On Monday, it was an interview with environmentalist Philippe Cousteau who faulted the White House for painting too rosy of a pictures with regards to the BP oil spill cleanup. (A critique that host Ed Schultz obviously agreed with.)

On other occasions when I've visited the set guests have belittled Democratic leadership in Congress for not doing enough to help the unemployed. And I know Schultz blamed the for administration for prematurely firing Shirely Sherrod instead of staring down that right-wing smear campaign.

And Schultz is hardly alone. Rachel Maddow spent the winter needling the administration over DADT, and Keith Olbermann recently gave Obama's primetime BP clean-up speech very low marks.

(...)

Bottom line: In the last four weeks, MSNBC has probably aired more substantive criticism of the current administration than Fox News aired of the Bush administration during that president's entire second term.

Period.

That's why MSNBC is not the liberal counter to Fox News. Because MSNBC does not operate as an appendage to the DNC and MSNBC does not consider itself to be a purely partisan political entity, the way Fox News now so clearly is.

[joeybee12]

1. Many shows on MSNBC have a liberal bent, but they do not exist as Fox does solely as a propganda

arm for a political party, in this case, the repukelicans.

[onehandle]

2. Mostly obvious stuff. The key difference to me is that MSNBC doesn't spread lies.

That's what makes Fox partisan infotainment, instead of news.

Fox is fiction.

[emulatorloo]

4. Exactly, MSNBC can survive a fact check. Most of the time, Fox can't

If Olbermann for example screws up and gets something wrong, he issues a correction.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Which gives it that much more crediblity....IMHO

[LatteLibertine]

5. I love MSNBC

I wish they would give Van Jones an evening commentary show :)

I'd love to see Tamron Hall with one and I hear she's being groomed to take a major role in the Today Show.

[Mnpaul]

6. But Gibbs wishes they were

Thank God for independent thinkers!!!!!